WD | Europe
United Front French, German Ambassadors Reflect on What Europe’s Future Will Look Like BY DERYL DAVIS
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n Jan. 22, as members of the European Commission in Brussels laid out plans for a two-year “Conference on the Future of Europe,” in Washington, D.C., ambassadors from the EU’s largest and arguably most influential countries, Germany and France, met to discuss what that future might look like. Hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, German Ambassador Emily Haber and French Ambassador Philippe Étienne offered their thoughts on the challenges and opportunities before European nations in 2020 and beyond. “Europe has always been at a crossroads,” Haber said, but its “mission statement” is different today than what it might have been just a few years ago. “The balance of the world has changed, and not in favor of the West,” she conceded. “We need all our collective strength to defend that balance and our values.” Haber suggested that the various crises of recent years, including the large numbers of migrants flooding into Europe, Britain’s departure from the EU and the rise of extremist political ideologies, have led to “much introspection” among member states. However, she insisted that Europe was not on any kind of downhill slope toward “skepticism and fragmentation.” Rather, she asserted that “[a]ll the polls will show you that the European cause [i.e. the EU] has become more popular, and that the public engage with it more than they used to.” Acknowledging that “there is much homework to do,” Haber said that going forward, Europe needed to become “more resilient” about issues such as economic rights, digital technology, climate change, the rise of China and the rights of young people. Étienne agreed that while Europe faces a litany challenges, when stepping back to look at the bigger picture, it’s clear that there also much to celebrate. “We have succeeded in having a European currency. We have started an economic and
PHOTOS: CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
German Ambassador Emily Haber, center, and French Ambassador Philippe Étienne discuss the future of Europe at a Jan. 22 event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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The balance of the world has changed, and not in favor of the West…. We need all our collective strength to defend that balance and our values. EMILY HABER
ambassador of Germany to the United States
monetary union. We have succeeded in the reunification of Germany inside the EU, and then to extend the EU to countries which suffered from Soviet domination,” he said. “These are incredible successes…. But we still have this test. We are in this new world with a number of global challenges which we have to give answers to.” Étienne noted that many of these challenges come from outside Europe, such as the movement of migrants from North Africa and the Middle East. Others are global in nature, including the difficulties of transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy and establishing protocols for safety and security in today’s digital
18 | THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT | MARCH 2020
revolution. Of special importance to both Haber and Étienne was the bilateral relationship across the Rhine. Both cited the recent Treaty of Aachen between France and Germany as a sign of their countries’ deepening partnership. First proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron — who has bucked the populist uprising in France and across Europe by advocating for a stronger EU — the treaty aims to bring France and Germany closer together on matters such as culture, education, climate, security and defense. For Étienne — who before coming to Washington served as Macron’s diplomatic advisor
— the relationship between the two countries was “personal,” having been deeply inspired by German and French citizens who, in the aftermath of the Second World War, were determined to make reconciliation between the two nations a reality. “This cooperation remains an inspiration,” and also “a necessary condition for European integration,” Étienne said. However, the ambassador cautioned that close cooperation between France and Germany “is not sufficient” in and of itself because “all states in the EU have a part in this process.” For her part, Haber suggested that people too often look at France and Germany through
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a lens of differences, which was “the wrong framing.” “It is hugely important for the rest of the EU that two large countries with different traditions, histories and vantage points try to bridge differences and argue them out, which we do,” Haber said. As an example, she said that over the past decade, “visions have been the German thing and incremental approaches probably the French thing.” That was good, she argued, because both approaches were needed to build a Europe of the future. Both ambassadors also emphasized the continuing importance of the transatlantic relationship, which has taken a beating under President
